Nearly half of adults say they’ve tried marijuana, but not recently

More Americans than ever say they’ve smoked marijuana, but for most of them it doesn’t seem to have become a habit.

In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 48% of adults said they had tried marijuana, up from 40% just three years ago. But among that group, just 12% said they had smoked marijuana within the past year.

Among that group, marijuana use is primarily recreational: Nearly half (47%) said they smoked “just for fun,” versus 30% who cited a medical issue, while 23% cited both reasons.

More than half (56%) of young adults say they’ve tried marijuana, and 27% say they’ve smoked it in the past year — by far the highest percentage in any age category. That’s also the age group showing the strongest support for legalizing the demon weed: 64%, compared with just over half of 30- to 64-year-olds.

Among that older group, about half of people ages 30 to 49 (51%) and 50 to 64 (54%) have tried marijuana, although only about one in ten did so last year. Just 22% of adults 65 and older say they’ve ever used marijuana, though a third support its legalization. Read more

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.